Abstract
Background: Considering the reports of increasing sleep problems in children, affecting health and well-being in young children and their families, we found it important to gain more knowledge about sleep and its correlation to health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in young, healthy children. The aims with this study were to describe sleep quality, sleep duration, and HRQoL in healthy 3–10-year-old children and to test associations between children’s sleep and HRQoL. Methods: Parents of 160 children (average age: 6.9 years, SD ±2.2) participated in the study. Sleep onset problems (SOP), sleep maintenance problems (SMP), and sleep duration were measured by the Pediatric Insomnia Severity Index (PISI). KIDSCREEN-27 was used to measure HRQoL in five dimensions: physical well-being, psychological well-being, autonomy and parent relation, social support and peers, and school environment. Results: The average score was 2.2 for SOP (SD +/-2.2) and 1.3 for SMP (SD +/-1.6). Few children (2%) were reported to sleep less than eight hours per night. Younger children had statistically significant higher SOP and SMP than older children. Correlations were found between SOP and poor psychological well-being (p < 0.05, ρ = - 0.16), and between SMP and poor physical wellbeing (p < 0.05, ρ = -0.16), psychological well-being (p < 0.05, ρ = - 0.21), poor school environment (p < 0.01, ρ = - 0.29), autonomy and parent relation (p < 0.05, ρ = - 0.16), and poor social support and peers (p < 0.05, ρ = - 0.19).Conclusion: Children’s sleep associates with health-related quality of life and needs to be acknowledged in child health care settings and schools.
Health-related quality of life and psychological well-being in adults with differences/disorders of sex development
